Homeland Season Four to Premiere October 12

The fourth season of Showtime’s Emmy and Golden Globe-winning hit drama series “Homeland” is set to premiere its first two episodes back to back October 5, beginning at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Additionally, Showtime has moved up the premiere of their “The Affair,” which will now debut on Sunday, October 12th at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

In the aftermath of ‘Homeland’s’ stunning finale last season, there is such strong anticipation for the start of season four that we wanted to give Homeland fans an extra generous helping of Carrie and company, said Gary Levine, Executive Vice President, Original Programming, Showtime Networks. Once we decided to premiere Homeland with a double episode, it made sense to use the momentum of that event to launch our newest series, ‘The Affair,’ the very next week on October 12th.

As last season drew to a close, Carrie Mathison (Emmy Award winner Claire Danes), pregnant with the late Brodys (Damian Lewis) baby, got promoted to a new post overseas, while Saul Berenson (Emmy and Tony Award winner Mandy Patinkin) contemplated his future outside of the CIA. Season four, filmed entirely on location in South Africa, will find Carrie assigned to one of the most volatile and dangerous CIA stations in the Middle East where she is back on the front lines in the war on terror. Along with Danes and Patinkin, Emmy nominee Rupert Friend will return for season four, along with Tracy Letts, Nazanin Boniadi and Laila Robins who are series regulars.

Produced by Fox 21, the series was developed for American television by Alex Gansa & Howard Gordon, and based on the original Israeli series Prisoners of War by Gideon Raff. Along with Gansa, Gordon and Raff, the executive producers for season four are Alexander Cary, Chip Johannessen, Meredith Stiehm, Avi Nir, Ran Telem and Lesli Linka Glatter.

“The Affair,” meanwhile, stars Golden Globe nominees Dominic West (“The Wire”) and Ruth Wilson (“Luther”), as well as Emmy nominee Maura Tierney (“ER”) and SAG Award nominee Joshua Jackson (“Fringe”). “The Affair,” currently in production in Montauk, NY, on ten episodes explores two marriages and the emotional and psychological effects of an extramarital affair. The provocative drama will be told from the male and female perspectives. Wilson plays Alison, a young woman waiting tables at a popular Hamptons diner, trying to piece her life back together in the wake of a personal tragedy. Her husband Cole (Jackson), struggles to keep it all together, both with his wife and the financially-strained ranch that has been in his family for generations. Their emotionally-charged marriage becomes even more complicated when Alison begins an affair with Noah (West), a New York City public school teacher and aspiring novelist who is spending the summer at his in-laws estate out on the island.

Tierney plays Helen, Noah’s college sweetheart, best friend, mother of his children, lover and wife of 17 years. Award-winning playwright and writer/producer Sarah Treem (“House of Cards,” “In Treatment”) and Hagai Levy created the series. They first worked together on the American adaption of Levi’s show “In Treatment”. Treem and Levi will both serve as executive producers, along with executive producer and director Jeffrey Reiner (“Friday Night Lights”) and executive producer Eric Overmyer.